When we went to see Robert Plant at Bottle Rock our friend, Ava, brought along a homie of hers who had sampled a few too many wines that day. This dude spent the better part of four or five songs screaming “I’m Bottle Rocking” at the top of his lungs. If you could win an Oscar for pretending not to know a dude, I would be nominated, for sure. Not that I really did know him. He was just one of those festival acquaintances that you engage with for a few hours of your life, and then you leave that place and most likely don’t see those folks again, perhaps until you’re in that same place a year later, or perhaps never again at all (says the guy living with a chick he met at Bonnaroo four years ago). I’ll most likely remember the “I’m Bottle Rocking” guy for quite some time, it was memorable to say the least, although I’m sure he has no recollection of me whatsoever or of the fact that he’s the “I’m Bottle Rocking” guy. Funny how that works, a person doesn’t have to remember you for you to remember them.
At another point in the festival I wandered away from The Van to catch the Avett Brothers set, they were the only act I required myself to sneak off to see. While I was gone I missed an entire set at The Van, from a band that turned out to be Wildlife Control, who turned out to have only played one song, which is most certainly why I missed them performing. A shame on several levels, most importantly that we got less songs from them, less good memories. Because in a sense what we’re doing here is collecting memories, and even though I wasn’t there, watching these guys singing this sweet song from that place sparked a whole bunch of other good memories from that place. That’s what it’s about, keeping that festival smile going while you’re sitting at your desk at work. Every damn day should be awesome.